Cambrian Park Plaza — Local services in San Jose

This is a historic Plaza with a few places to go.

Dollar Tree

This is a good place to get little crafts or essentials and EVERYTHING is a dollar or less. I rarely go here honestly, but it's an OK store for that. The only thing is that it attracts a lot of low income people and some of them are a bit sketchy.

Bowling Alley

I don't even know if the bowling alley is still there, but I went there a couple of times and it was overall ok. It had low business and pretty high prices but a good family friendly bowling alley.

Alicia's Cafe

This is an amazing Mexican restaurant that offers great food and good service. I've been here a couple times and really enjoyed it. I usually get the burrito and it is delicious.

Occasional farmers market/pumpkin patch/Christmas tree lot

During certain times of the year, the Plaza hosts a great farmers market in the front parking lot. There's every thing from food trucks to fresh fruit and vegetables. There is often live outdoor music too. Also seasonally, there are pumpkin patches and Christmas tree lots both of which have proceeds going to a school. Some of the Christmas trees have high prices but it's overall good.

Overall, this Plaza has a lot of things to do and there are also a few banks, restaurants like round table pizza and togo's sandwiches. There are many other small businesses including a great bike shop that I go to regularly for supplies and they have great bikes and bike repair guys. There's a lot of other stuff that I don't pay attention to and sometimes there is a goodwill trailer there for charity donations. Overall...

Used to be better. I heard they are trying to turn in into another fancy Santana Row type of shopping center. That's why most of the businesses are gone. I miss Cambrian Bowl! Of all the places they should have let stay the longest, untill they start demolishing the plaza, was the bowling alley. That was by far the best place to bowl in the South Bay Area. It's just been sitting there, for months, completely empty, for no reason! I could have been bowling this whole time! What a waste of space and time! Dollar Tree is still open. Why did they get to stick around and the bowling alley had to get the boot so soon?! I also miss American Video! That place has been gone for years but by far the best video store I had ever been to! They had low rental rates, they served freshly popped popcorn, it was cheap and really good too, and it always made the place smell like you were at the theater. The video selection was unbelievable! They had so many classics, stuff you couldn't find anywhere else. And, man, the "adult film" section was HUGE! It had it's own freakin dedicated floor of the building! 😂 Definitely one of those classic, awesome, one-of-a-kind, friendly, single family run establishments that you don't see around at all anymore. Sucks they're just going to tear the place down. More Santana Row complexes, yeah that's what we need. Pssh!...

Cambrian Park Plaza is an historic 1953 outdoor California car-culture colonial revival style mall that has been lovingly maintained in its nearly original design ever since. It’s currently a little worse for the wear, with a lot of vacancies, but it has some vibrant businesses still, and tons of parking. Come check it out and patronize the businesses here before it’s gone.

In 2022 San Jose City Council annexed the nearly 20-acre parcel of County land including the Plaza into the City, a step on the path of redeveloping the property into a more pedestrian-friendly “Urban Village“ mixed-use development.

Naturally, not everyone who lives nearby is happy about the high density development plans, but if you don’t live nearby, and have never seen this one-story relic of a bygone era, then I suggest you rush over and check it out before the wrecking crew comes to tear down everything in my photos, except the quirky carousel sign, which apparently will be saved and moved to new location along...